Optimising the health of purchased cattle

Autumn sees a seasonal increase in the number of farmers and finishers starting to buy in cattle to turn out to grass or put straight into sheds to store or finish over winter. Keeping animals healthy in winter is paramount to achieving targeted levels of daily liveweight gain. In order to achieve this, planning has to take place in advance of purchasing.

Sourcing cattle

Whether sourcing cattle online, in the mart or on farms, it is important to pay particular heed to the health status of the animal before purchase. Check for signs of scouring, excessive coughing or presence of lungworm and any other illnesses.

There may be an increased risk of health issues with cattle coming through marts, due to the mixing of cattle in the same air space. If you are bringing cattle to a mart to sell, ensure the animals are fully healthy before loading them. Time and time again you will see weanlings presented to marts in the early stages of pneumonia. If you have any fears over the animal’s health then, as a buyer, you should pass over the animal. Bringing home a sick animal could lead to the spread of disease to a larger group of animals.

Sourcing stock directly from other farmers has benefits from a health viewpoint. It is important to ask what health protocol has been followed on the farm, if the animals have been vaccinated or dosed and the timing of each.

Firstly, stress can be minimised as cattle can be loaded and taken quickly from farm to farm. Secondly, the animals will only be mixing with those in the same group on the seller’s farm, so the risk of them contracting any diseases from other cattle is minimised until they arrive on the buyer’s farm.

If a vaccination protocol is in operation on the purchaser’s farm, he can come to an arrangement with the seller to have the animals vaccinated before the move off his farm, so the booster can be given on the destination farm.

Pre-purchase checks

Before purchasing stock, there are a number of checks you need to carry out to ensure that only healthy animals are purchased. Regardless of whether you are buying animals in the mart or on farm, you should first look at:

1) Locomotion: Watch the animal moving. Ensure it is not yielding on any foot. Look for any signs of stiffness or swelling.

2) Eyes and ears: Often at the first signs of illness in an animal will display drooped ears and sunken eyes. Ensure cattle are lively and showing no signs of tardiness or dehydration.

3) Fast breathing: In the case of weanlings, one the greatest risks is respiratory disease or pneumonia. In a mart ring it is difficult to get a good indication of whether the animal is breathing quickly, as it will be excited; so often it is important to view the animal in the pen prior to sale. Those with early signs of pneumonia will be easily picked up.

4) Scour: You should also be watching closely for any signs of scour, especially if purchasing young calves or weanlings. Adult cattle coming off low dry-matter grass in the autumn can be quite loose. Look for signs of a dirty tail and/or dirty rear end, this is one of the main signs of scouring. This can be caused by several issues, including worms.

5) Mastitis: If you are buying heifers for breeding, in-calf heifers or cows, you should examine the udder for any signs of mastitis. Dry heifers can occasionally suffer from the disease prior to calving. It may also be worth checking for any blind or weak quarters in cows or heifers that are springing.

6) Ask for health history If it is possible, ask the seller for details on what dosing or vaccination regime has been given to the animal, as this may reduce the need for further dosing after purchase.

Quarantine procedure

Management of the animal once it arrives on the farm is critical. Ideally, newly purchased animals should be quarantined from the rest of the herd. Feeding meal or concentrates is very important, as it will keep energy levels high, and if cattle are used to eating meal, it will help to get them settled in. If weanlings are purchased and turned back out to grass, offer meal daily.

To reduce the risk of pneumonia after purchase, let the animals out to grass for 10 to 14 days before housing. Turn out to a sheltered field that is dry or has a dry lying area. This allows them to recover from the stress of transport and reduces disease transmission. It also allows time for vaccination programmes to be started ahead of housing as well as a dosing programme (lice, worms and possibly fluke). Different age groups should be housed separately, preferably in different air spaces to older animals. Stocking density should also be carefully monitored.

For those buying in bulls and store cattle for finishing, this is essential in reducing the impact of disease on the farm. If cattle are being housed when they arrive on the farm, then look at placing them in a large straw-bedded shed for the first few days at a low stocking rate.

Ensure the shed is well ventilated. Avoid dosing the animals straight away, as this can often increase stress. Keep handling of these cattle to a minimum for the first few days to let them settle into their new surroundings.

Animals that show any signs of illness in this period should be removed from the group and isolated until they are treated.

Dosing and vaccinations

If you are buying from farms and have a vaccination programme in place, consider asking the seller to vaccinate animals three to four weeks prior to movement. The booster shot can then be given a few days after arrival on your farm.

Where there are issues with IBR, Pi3 or RSV on the farm, this may be a necessary task to safeguard newly purchased animals. As previously, dosing should not take place on the day of arrival onto the farm. Allow animals to settle in before the dosing regime is followed.

Those that are finishing cattle will most likely use a broad spectrum wormer that will be active against mature worms and fluke.

Where weanlings are purchased in and showing signs of lungworms, ideally you should avoid handling them for a few days to allow them to settle before dosing.

Analysis of faecal samples will give an indication of the fluke and worm burden of the animal, and the dosing regimen should be built around this. It is important to talk to your vet where possible to get advice on the correct approach to dosing purchased animals.

When dosing for fluke, choose the right product for use. If treating at grass prior to housing, look at the possibility of using a product that is active against both immature and mature fluke and possibly early immature also.

If the protocol is to house animals for a period before treating for fluke, then animals housed for eight to 10 weeks can be dosed with a product which is active against mature fluke as, at that stage, the majority of fluke will be mature.

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Focus: Winter animal health